Corporate & Hospitality

Chipperfield happy to stay at the back

In form goalscorer Scott Chipperfield doesn’t believe a move further up the park will come his way for the Socceroos, despite his recent terrific run of form in front of goals for his Swiss side FC Basel.

In form goalscorer Scott Chipperfield doesn-t believe a move further up the park will come his way for the Socceroos, despite his recent terrific run of form in front of goals for his Swiss side FC Basel.

Chipperfield, who arrived in Sydney to start preparations for the Socceroos vital 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Qualifying Round 4 match against Uzbekistan, believes he will stay at left fullback in the national team system for now.

However if he gets a chance to score next Wednesday night (April 1) at Stadium Australia* in Sydney, Chipperfield, who scored a hat-trick last weekend for Basel, is more than confident he can repeat the dose for his country.

“Yeah it-s been good, the ball seems to keep finding me and I keep banging them in,” he said, from Sydney. “We-ve had a few important games, where we-ve won late in the game.

“We-re coming first at the moment, but we-ve still got 11 games to go.”

“But no I don-t think so,” he said, in reference to moving further up the park with the national team.

“I think Pim has got me down for a left fullback role here, as we don-t have too many options in that area. Dave Carney is more of a wing player as well and has been filling in that left fullback role.

“With the national team I am happy to play left back, but against Uzbekistan (in Tashkent) I pushed forward and got a goal, so hopefully I can get one next week.”

Chipperfield, along with Luke Wilkshire, Josh Kennedy and David Carney, helped officially launch Schweppes (Solo) sponsorship of the Socceroos, as the new Non-Alcoholic Beverage Partner of the FFA.

Asked if he thought he could repeat his winning goal that he scored against Uzbekistan in Tashkent that kicked off Australia-s good start to the Round 4 qualifiers, he obviously would like nothing better.

“Hopefully it would be nice. It-s been a good time and I-m confident in front of goals at the moment, so if I can get a few chances, hopefully I can pit one away.”

Since returning from injury, just prior to the Japan qualifier in February, Chipperfield has netted six times for Basel, playing as a more attacking left winger and is relishing the opportunity to get further forward, where he once a very potent force for Wollongong Wolves in the old National League.

“I-m playing a more attacking role with my club Basel; playing a more left wing role, so I am getting more opportunities to get into the box and score goals,” he said.
“I scored three on the weekend and they were all from open play and the three before that were headed goals, so I-m mixing them up a bit.

“I-m just happy to be scoring goals at the moment, as well as feeling in good shape and good form.”

Chipperfield puts his form down to the fact he is enjoying his club football after being frustrated by injury in the early part of the season.

“I-m just enjoying my football again I guess,” he added. “I was out injured for a long time and I was a little bit frustrated, so I-m just enjoying it a lot more.”

Fitness wise, Chipperfield believes he will much better equipped to handle the pace of the game, after the tough initiation back from injury with a full 90 minutes against Japan in February.

“I will be much fitter; the Japan game I really didn-t do much in the eight weeks prior to that game.

“I-ve played six games now, not full games, but I played 90 minutes on the weekend, which was my first 90 minutes since the Japan game, so fitness wise I feel good.

“I can still improve and to get to full fitness I need to be playing 90 minutes regularly, so I-m probably around 80% at the moment.”

Chipperfield also confirmed that he was likely to stay another season in Switzerland with FC Basel after contemplating a return home for the next Hyundai A-League next season. He said the club was pretty keen to sort something out, especially after his recent good form.

However is almost certain that after (hopefully) playing at World Cup finals in South Africa, a return to Australia is definitely on the cards and hopes his body will be able to see him play for a season or two in the Hyundai A-League.

Tickets are still available for the match against Uzbekistan, next Wednesday April 1 at Stadium Australia* in Sydney. Kick-off is at 8.00pm.

To purchase your tickets, go to www.ticketek.com.au or phone on 132 849 or they can be purchased from all Ticketek outlets.

* ANZ Stadium referred to original name of Stadium Australia, due to rules of AFC.